The Fear Of Multitasking Isn't Really About Multitasking
from the good-or-bad? dept
A few months back, we had a story about the downsides to constant multitasking, and wondered if, perhaps, today's society has been glorifying the ability to multitask at the expense of being able to actually spend time paying attention to any one thing. It appears such fears are spreading, as some fret about workers who never pay attention at meetings or conferences. Still, this seems like the type of problem that will eventually work itself out. First of all, it isn't really multitasking. Mostly, in those situations, the person's interest simply isn't being held by whatever else is going on in the room -- so it isn't so much about "multitasking" as it is about "alternative tasking." The person has mostly checked out of what's going on, finding something more valuable (in their minds) to spend time on. In other words, it's not about the person doing multiple things at once, but deciding that the task involving their laptop or Blackberry or mobile phone has priority over whatever is going on in the room. If this is really impacting someone's job, that should become clear over time. If they are unable to handle their job, in part because they get too focused on other tasks, then that shows up in their job performance -- and suggests, not that they multitask too much, but that they fail to focus on the appropriate tasks at the appropriate time.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Multitasking? Ha!
Chris
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Multitasking? Ha!
My wife talks to me less when driving than I do to her but that is because driving is still more of a foreground task for her (less years experience).
Most people in work do "tasxk switching", not multi tasking. Those that cannot hack it have not masteredx the art of putting task 1 down completely before picking up task 2, so they carry baggage from all tasks in their minds.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Multitasking? Ha!
Yes, some things seem to take the entire brain to process, but even while doing those things you can walk, chew gum, and listen for your name being yelled, all at the same time!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
i had this happen recently and i had to stop the meeting and ask the people to pay attention or leave because their incessant pecking at their keyboards was distracting everyone. they looked at me like i was crazy. multitasking is one thing, rude behaviour is completely different.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]